I Swear
by TheLunarGames
Summary: When Peter Parker wakes up from a nightmare in front of Tony Stark, he just about wants to die from embarrassment. That is until Tony admits to Peter his current nightmares: Nightmares about his very own death. Hearing this, Peter swears to protect Tony's life. But can he save Tony from his own fate and destiny?


**A/N: Hey guys! This is my first time uploading/writing anything Marvel related, so I hope that I captured the characters right and that they're not OOC, lol! (I also apologize for any typos, haha!) I really hope you enjoy this One Shot and that you leave me a Review and follow me :D**

**(Rated T for mild cursing,, and there are some dark angsty scenes that could possibly be overwhelming? Idk, I'm paranoid XD)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Every night.

Every damn night Peter had the same dream.

And he hated it.

He didn't understand why this dream kept recurring; he didn't understand what it meant. But almost every morning he'd wake up with a trail of tears running down his face, soaking up his pillow.

This particular morning, Peter was awakened by his body shaking with uncontrollable sobs. He sat up in bed and reached up to wipe his face, only to have a new spring of tears fall onto his hands. Peter took in a steady breath and calmed his crying before Aunt May came running into his room to see what was the matter. Peter appreciated all that Aunt May did for him and she was the greatest comforter he could ever ask for, but he just couldn't let May see him like this right now. He wouldn't be able to explain it to her, partly from embarrassment, but Peter also didn't understand it all himself. Besides, he didn't want May to worry about him right now, and it was likely that she'd blame this all on him being Spider-Man and claim that he was "stressing himself out" (he wasn't.)

Peter grabbed the end of his baggy t-shirt and wiped off the remaining tears on his face. He realized his nose and eyes would probably be red for a little while (due to the crying he did in his sleep during the night.) He would have to get ready extra long today so he'd skip breakfast and then sneak past Aunt May on his way out. He started racking his brains on a way he could avoid Aunt May on the way out of the apartment—she'd clearly be standing there in the kitchen —when Peter realized he could just escape through his window with his wall-climbing abilities.

Peter rushed to get ready before gathering up his scattered homework and shoving it into his backpack (this one was the 4th backpack so far this month. Peter offered to pay for it since he felt so guilty losing them all of the time, but Aunt May now knew the reason why he was losing these backpacks. "You're going off protecting and helping people every day. You, a 16 year old kid, are doing so much for this city. The least I can do is buy you a backpack every now and then," Aunt May always told him whenever he insisted on buying it himself. Really, he _could_ go and buy one without her permission, but Aunt May _wanted_ to get them for him herself. That's just how May was: selfless and generous. And Peter respected that. He _loved _her for that.)

After crawling out of his window, he raced through down the streets and made it to the subway—earlier than usual. He sat down on a bench and scrolled through his phone, trying to distract his thoughts. Yet, glimpses of his dream still kept flashing through his mind. The little girl. Her long brunette hair. Her sparkling eyes. Her beautiful smile. Her bubbly laugh...Then, the terror filling her eyes. The wind whipping her hair in all directions. Her screams. Peter reaching out his hand to her. She reached for him, her hand just barely in his. And then...she was just gone. Vanished. There was nothing left of her. Just...dust.

Peter ran his hands over his face. His chest felt heavy and his breathing came in shallow breaths. He didn't understand why this dream kept recurring. What was it trying to tell him? It was always the same. Always the same little girl. Always the same dialogue. Not even the dialogue gave Peter a clue as to what the dream was hinting at. Peter was growing frustrated.

When Peter arrived at school, he gave a brief greeting to MJ and Ned. He could tell they knew something was up, but they didn't interrogate him about it, which Peter was extremely thankful for. He wasn't in the mood to talk about what was on his mind.

Peter tried his best to pay attention to all of his classes and to divert his mind from analyzing his dreams, but when history class came around, Peter felt himself drowsing off to sleep. He refused to allow himself to sleep, though, in fear of having that nightmare in the middle of class. He couldn't wake up crying in the middle of class. Flash picked on him enough, he didn't need another reason for that kid to bully him.

"You okay, Peter?" Ned whispered to him over their teacher lecturing the class about the chinese dynasties or something like that. Peter yawned and rubbed his eyes, giving Ned a drawn out nod.

"You sure? You've just been kind of...distant."

Peter saw the frown on Ned's face. He really was worried about him. So Peter gave him a reassuring smile. "Yeah, I'm good. I've just been busy with the 'internship' lately and I've been so tired."

"Maybe you should give yourself a break. You've been working so hard." Ned looked around to make sure nobody was listening in on their conversation. As far as they knew, everyone was either paying attention in class or on their phones, completely oblivious to what was going on around them. Ned brought his voice down lower regardless. "I'm sure Queens can manage without Spider-Man for one day. Or maybe two days. The police can handle any small crimes."

Peter wasn't at all distracted by or tired from being Spider-Man, but the thought of not going on patrol daily upset Peter, in a way. When he was Spider-Man, he felt free. It was a way to raise his adrenaline. A way to help others in need, even if it was in a minor way. Spider-Man was a part of him, and the thought of giving up Spider-Man dispirited Peter, even if it were for a couple of days.

"I'm okay, I promise," Peter reassured Ned. He held out his fist for Ned to fist bump. Ned did so and looked a little more convinced, though Peter could tell he was still a little concerned for his friend—as he should be. His best friend _was _Spider-Man after all. He was constantly in danger.

After school, Peter found Happy waiting out in front of the school for him in the car. _Right, _Peter thought. _I'm going over to Mr. Starks today. I totally forgot! _He opened the backseat door and slide into the car. It always smelled so good in here. He remembered one time when Happy was immensely tired, and it was just far too tempting to annoy Happy, so Peter did—all the way in the car ride to Stark Tower—and Happy was done with Peter's shit. So the next day, Happy had sprayed peppermint essential oils all inside of the car. And when he came to pick him up the next day from school, Peter got into the car, inhaled the smell of peppermint, and immediately leapt out of the car and vomited. Happy had a good laugh, but Peter sure didn't. Ever since he'd gotten his spider powers, he couldn't stand anything peppermint related. It was a curse, really. Peter loved peppermint. Candycanes, soft peppermints, peppermint milkshakes, you name it. But now he despised anything having to do with that flavor.

"Hey, Happy," Peter greeted the driver. Happy grunted a "hello" in response and Peter sat back in his seat quietly. Happy noticed how unusually silent the kid was, but didn't say anything. He assumed he'd just had a rough day at school or was tired or something. Whatever it was, he'd probably talk to Tony about it.

After Happy dropped Peter off and went to park the car, Peter walked into the familiar building. FRIDAY gave him a typical welcome, and after greeting the AI back, Peter made his way into the elevator, heading for Tony's lab. Even before the elevator reached its destination, Peter could already hear Tony blasting some ACDC. The doors opened and Peter stepped out and into the lab. Tony looked very concentrated on whatever he was working on, a pencil tucked behind his ear and his fist pressed against his mouth. Peter almost didn't want to approach him, in fear of disrupting him, but he knew that Mr. Stark truly wouldn't mind. Peter could maybe even offer some help.

"Hey Mr. Stark!" Peter waved his hand as he further entered the lab. Tony looked up and gave the kid a wave. Peter walked up to his mentor and glanced down at the piece of equipment on the table that he was examining.

"What are you working on?" Peter wondering.

"I'm trying to update the laser beams on my suit, and I thought I'd start off by working on the hands."

"Oh, cool!" Peter exclaimed, taking a seat next to Tony. "How can I help?"

"Hmm. Maybe by getting me another cup of coffee."

Peter crossed his arms. "I thought that was Ms. Potts job."

The look of disbelief on Tony's face caused the smirk across Peter's face.

"Ms. Potts is a badass women; the CEO of my company." He pointed a threatening finger at Peter, keeping the light-hearted tone in his voice. "Don't disrespect Ms. Potts like that again."

Peter chuckled as Tony raised an eyebrow. "Noted."

The two of them spent the remainder of the afternoon working on their new project. Once 7 o'clock came around, Tony told Peter he should probably head home, but Peter said Aunt May was working an overnight shift tonight and he convinced Tony to let him stay longer. So they made their way out of the lab and into the kitchen where they found leftover food in the fridge. They settled down on the sofa in the living room to watch a movie ("Back to the Future". It was Peter's pick.)

15 minutes into the movie, Peter had fallen asleep. Tony had noticed how off Peter felt that afternoon. He must have been exhausted from something. Maybe he hadn't gotten enough sleep recently, or something was stressing him out. Whatever the reason was, Tony was sure Peter would talk to him about it when he was ready—if it was any big deal at all.

Tony looked down upon the teen, fondly. He had recently grown closer to this kid, and even looked forward to the days when Peter would come help him at his lab. And sure, it was cliché, but Tony felt that Peter had helped shape him into a better person. Of course Pepper and Rhodey had helped a lot with that, but Peter affected him in a different way. He brought out a soft side from within him; a caring side. It seemed out of character to him, but he only expressed that side to those closest to him.

When the movie ended, Tony checked the time and saw that it was 9 o'clock. He knew Peter needed to get home, but he was sleeping so peacefully; Tony didn't want to disrupt him. He decided on letting Peter sleep here for the night. He'd make sure to let May know and have Happy take him to school the next morning.

Tony grabbed the blanket hanging on the top of the sofa and laid it across the spider boy. Then Tony left for his room, so he too could retreat to sleep.

* * *

She stood there in the center of a flowery field, her curly hair being lifted by the heavy breeze. Peter recognized this scenery, and he immediately recognized this girl. Her honey eyes met his eyes and a huge smile spread across her face. She waved at Peter, waiting on him to approach her first.

"Hello," Peter smiled, waving back.

"Hi!" the little girl was practically bouncing up and down as she greeted him. "I'm Mayday!"

"Hey, didn't your parents ever tell you not to talk to strangers?" Peter smirked, further approaching her.

Mayday let out a bubbly laugh. It was the most pure-sounding thing Peter had ever heard.

"No, silly!" she giggled. "You're no stranger."

"No?" Peter was curious as to how this girl knew him, and he was eager to find out more.

"I've known you my whole life!" the girl threw her arms open to exaggerate her words. She was a little over-energetic with her gesture that it caused her to fall down onto her butt.

"Oh yeah?" Peter crouched down beside her. Mayday looked up at him with her big eyes. She grabbed him by the hand and yanked him down further so that he, too, was sitting. She didn't answer him, but instead began to pick at the flowers surrounding them.

"What are you doing?" Peter wondered, trying to engage her in conversation. Thankfully, her sweet voice spoke again.

"I'm making a flower crown!" she exclaimed, twisting the flowers together to form the crown. "Do you want one?"

Peter was a little caught off guard at that question. He wasn't used to hanging around little girls—or _any_ little kids, if he thought about it. "Oh, uh...sure! I'd love one."

"Okay. Let me make mine first. You can start picking the flowers for your crown," she instructed him. She pointed at the blue and red flowers that strictly surrounded him. "Pick those flowers. They're your favorite colors."

Peter looked at her questioningly. These were the colors of his Spider-Man suit. How well did this little girl know Peter? Did she know he was Spider-Man? Peter shook the thoughts from his head, figuring it was best not to bother her with those questions, and picked the flowers. When he gathered what he assumed would be enough, he studied how Mayday twisted the flowers and stems together to make her crown. He began to attempt to make his own, but he knew he was doing it terribly when Mayday laughed at him.

"You're doing it wrong. Let me show you." She reached for the flowers in his hand, and Peter willingly gave them to her. He watched as she delicately combined the flower stems together to create his crown. When she was finished, she placed it on his head and grinned up at him.

"You look so pretty!" she giggled, her eyes sparkling as she looked up at him. Peter grabbed her crown sitting in her lap and returned the favor by putting her daisy crown on top of her curly hair.

"And you look like a princess!" Peter replied, patting her hair down. She gave him the biggest grin at that compliment. "Thank you," she spoke softly, feeling bashful.

She smiled up at him.

He smiled down at her.

Peter reached his hand towards her to fix her flower crown, or fix her hair, or something.

But then it started.

The breeze turned into a heavy wind. It knocked the flower crowns off of their heads and whipped their hair around in all directions. Peter saw the terror filling Mayday's eyes. She looked at Peter, helplessly. Peter couldn't imagine what could possibly be going through her head.

"Mayday?" Peter spoke over the wind. The wind began howling now. It picked the little girl up and dragged her away from Peter. She began screaming (oh gosh, that pitiful sound) and reached her hands out to Peter. He tried to go after her, but it felt as if the wind was holding him back.

"Mayday!" Peter shouted. She continued screaming, tears pooling up in her eyes.

"Save me! Please! Save me!"

The wind and the screams were ear piercing to Peter, especially with his spider-senses enhancing his other senses. But he fought against the wind. He had to get to Mayday. He had to save her. He was a hero. His job was to save and protect others. And he would give his all to save this innocent little girl.

He fought against the wind. He grimaced as the noises overwhelmed him. But he didn't stop fighting until he reached Mayday. The winds had subsided when he had grabbed hold of her hand, but they were still a hassle.

"Mayday. Mayday. I got you." He pulled her into him, holding her tightly. He dropped to his knees before the winds could knock him over. "I've got you, May. It's okay. It's okay."

Her screams had stopped, but she was still shaking with sobs. He glanced down at her and was horrified as he watched her figure slowly fade away.

"Mayday? Mayday!" he shouted, pulling her closer to him. "No, no, no! Stay with me!"

She reached her little hand up to him, which was slowly fading as well. Peter's eyes welled up with tears at the pitiful sight. He couldn't save her; _didn't _save her.

"Stay with me, please." Peter choked on his tears. Mayday looked up at Peter one last time, her eyes glazed with tears.

"Goodbye, Daddy."

And then she was gone.

* * *

"Peter? Peter!"

He heard the familiar voice, and his tense body—that was clutching the pillow for dear life—loosened as he recognized the voice. A hand shook his side roughly, and that's when he regained consciousness. Peter bolted upright, looking around the room until his eyes caught sight of Mr. Stark kneeling by his side. He felt the lump in his throat and the tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Peter?" Mr. Stark's voice was soft. Softer than Peter had ever heard it before. And Peter realized it was because he saw him crying. Peter was _crying. _Crying in front of _Mr. Stark. _This was possibly the most embarrassing thing that Peter had ever done. He felt heat rise to his face as he choked on another sob.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Peter jumped up to his feet, searching for the nearest exit. "I should go. I _need _to go."

Peter raced towards the elevator across the room. He had to get out of here. He was completely humiliated and ashamed of himself. He was _Spider-man. _He was supposed to be strong; a hero. He wasn't supposed to be crying in front of Iron Man!

"Peter! Wait!"

Peter ignored Mr. Stark and kept jogging towards his exit, until he had heard Mr. Stark instruct FRIDAY to lock the elevator door. Peter stood there dumbfounded, staring at the door. He was now trapped inside of Stark Tower, a sobbing mess. How could Mr. Stark do this to him?

"Peter, please."

Peter slowly turned around to face his mentor.

"I'm sorry," Peter sobbed. Tony approached the kid as he stood there, crying. He put an arm around him and pulled him into a half-hug as he led him back to the sofa. "You have nothing to be sorry for." He rubbed Peter's shoulder in a comforting way. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Peter stared at his feet as he shrugged. "I don't know."

"You had a nightmare?"

Peter wiped his eyes and sniffed. "Yeah. You could call it that." He glanced down at his watch and saw that it read 2:15am. Peter shook his head in disbelief. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Stark. I didn't mean to stay so late. I didn't mean to wake you up. You can...you can go back to bed."

"Peter, stop that." Peter cringed at Tony's tone. It made him feel even more guilty for some reason. "Hey, look at me." Peter did so, his eyes red from crying. "You're not a burden, okay? You didn't bother me. I'm going to stay right here if you need someone to talk to. Or maybe you don't want to talk about it. I'm still not going to leave you alone, okay?"

Peter glanced at him and gave him a weak smile before staring at his feet again. He decided that getting this off his chest might make him feel better. So he took in a deep, shaky breath. "Every night for the past week, I've had the same dream." He looked up at Mr. Stark, only to see that he was listening intently. He rubbed Peter's back, urging him on. Peter took in another breath. "It always starts off the same. I'm in a meadow with flowers everywhere. And there's a little girl. She's the sweetest and most beautiful thing ever. She always has a smile on her face and greets me with the brightest grin. When I approach her, she makes me sit by her. And we talk. She finally told me her name tonight: Mayday." He gave an unavailing laugh as he continued. "Tonight we made flower crowns. She told me she knew me and that my favorite colors were blue and red—like the colors of my suit, you know. So she made me pick those colored flowers for my flower crown."

Peter's expression grew dark as he remembered the next part of his dream. "And then the nightmare started. A strong wind picked up Mayday and dragged her away from me. She screamed over the howling wind, begging me to save her." Peter squeezed his eyes shut as he recalled all of this. Tony noticed this and put an arm around his shoulder to further comfort the boy. "The wind tried to hold me back from her, but I fought back against it until I reached Mayday's side. And I thought I saved her. I _thought _I did."

Peter clenched his fists at his side. "I held her in my arms, telling her that it was okay. Everything was okay. But when I looked down at her, she began fading. In my arms. And this time...this time there was nothing I could do. I just held her tighter, begging her to stay with me. But that wasn't enough." Peter swallowed the lump rising in his throat. "The last thing she said to me before she faded away was 'Goodbye, Daddy.' And then...she...she was dust."

A new spring of tears burst from his eyes. "I couldn't save her, Mr. Stark. I couldn't save my own daughter."

Tony pulled Peter into his chest as he wept. "Shit, kid," he murmured into Peter's hair. He placed a gentle kiss onto his head, rocking the kid back and forth. He held him tightly in his arms as the minutes passed by. Tony didn't know how much time had passed, but he didn't let go of the boy. This kid needed him, whether he admitted it or not.

"I'm s-sorry," Peter sobbed, his voice muffled due to his face being pressed into Tony's shirt. Tony didn't say anything, he just continued to run his hand through Peter's hair until Peter had cried the last of his tears. He took in a shaky breath, but a fit of hiccups took over when he tried to breathe—which caused a coughing fit. Tony sat the kid up and rubbed his back as Peter tried to capture air into his lungs.

"Hey, hey. You're okay," Tony hushed. "It was just a dream. It wasn't real."

"It didn't feel like just a dream," Peter murmured. "It all felt so real. She was so light and fragile when I held her in my arms. It felt so real...physically."

Tony didn't know how to reply to this. Saying things like "it's all okay, you'll be okay" wasn't going to work on Peter. But he also didn't want to say anything to make it worse. He wasn't even sure if Peter wanted comfort. Maybe he just had to let it all out.

"What if my dream is trying to tell me something? What if it's predicting the future?" Peter looked back at Tony with his red eyes. "What if something is going to happen to my future daughter?"

"It's not," Tony answered abruptly.

"How do you know that?" he questioned. Peter watched as Tony let out a deep sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose. An unsettling feeling sat in the bottom of Peter's stomach as he observed Tony's behavior.

"Mr. Stark…?"

Tony shook his head as he prepared to answer the kid. "I don't. I don't know if it's going to happen or not. I just have to hope...I have to _pray _it won't. Because…"

Peter's heart pounded faster as he anticipated Tony's reply. "Because what?"

Tony sat up straighter and turned his body towards Peter to face him. He didn't plan on telling Peter this. In fact, he didn't plan on telling _anybody _this. But maybe he also needed to let this out of him. Maybe Peter was the right person to tell. The more Tony hung out with this kid, the more he realized how easy this kid was to talk to. He was nonjudgmental and incredibly forgiving. Whenever Tony had problems with Pepper, he'd find himself ranting to Peter about it. He was scared at first that he was burdening the kid with all this drama, but Peter didn't mind at all. In fact, he often told Tony the exact words he needed to hear and offered suggestions on how to make it up to Pepper—and though Tony would never admit it, he used Peter's suggestions, and they usually worked.

So yes, Tony decided. He would finally talk to Peter about what had been bothering him the past couple of weeks.

"Like you, I've also been having recurring dreams," Tony revealed.

"Yeah?"

Tony nodded. "It also has to do with my future daughter. It's very similar to yours, actually. We're sitting together, playing and talking. She's the sweetest and most brilliant kid I've ever met. I could spend hours talking with her. And I would have if I could. But much like your dream, a storm starts to pick up and tears us apart. Only, instead of her fading away to dust, _I'm _the one who fades to dust."

Peter let out a quiet "oh no" as he averted his eyes away from Tony's and stared at his feet.

"I left her there all alone, with no one to keep her company. And...I know how it feels to be lonely. It's one of the most painful experiences I've been through. I don't want her to feel the pain of loneliness as well."

Peter could have sworn he saw tears glistening in Tony's eyes, but Tony had turned away quickly and wiped them away before there could even be a trace of them.

"Mr. Stark?"

Hearing Peter's soft voice, he turned around to face the kid. His facial expression was full of such empathy, it almost made Tony chuckle. Just a moment ago, this kid was sobbing because of a scarring dream he had, and now he was concerned for his mentor.

"I won't ever let that happen," Peter stated. His sympathetic face was replaced with a grim expression. "Your future daughter won't ever be left alone, and I'll make sure of that. Because I'll make sure that you'll always be around. I swear, nothing will ever happen to you. Not while I'm around. Spider-Man will be here to keep you safe so that you can keep your daughter safe."

Tony was so choked up that he almost began to cry again. He was thankful that he could easily mask his emotions. The last thing _he _wanted was to cry in front of this kid. He didn't want to worry him, even though the tears would be because of how touched he was. Though he doubted that Peter could save him from death, it was the thought and determination that counted. But even that worried Tony. He'd much rather have himself die over Peter dying.

"Kid, I don't want you risking your life to save mine."

"And I can't let you die and leave your daughter fatherless," Peter argued.

Tony exhaled an exhausted breath. "Listen, we don't even know if these dreams mean anything. It could just be nothing. It's better to not overthink it, okay?" He waited for a response from Peter. He didn't get one. "Peter." The kid looked back up at Tony with an unsure glance. "Okay?"

Peter nodded. "Okay, Mr. Stark."

"Good."

Tony put his arm around Peter's shoulder again, happy that this conversation was now over. Peter leaned into his mentor as he thought over everything that had happened. He didn't know what these dreams meant, but he knew they weren't nothing. But he figured continuing to talk about them could upset Mr. Stark, so he decided to stay silent about the whole topic.

After a couple of minutes, Tony stood up. "Well, I'm going to head back to bed. Happy is going to take you to school in the morning. You gonna be okay to fall back asleep again?"

"Yeah," Peter responded.

"Okay. Good." Tony clasped his hands together. "Well, goodnight, kid."

"Good night, Mr. Stark."

Tony began to make his way back to his bedroom before Peter stopped him.

"Mr. Stark?"

His mentor turned around to face the young hero.

"I'll still always be here to protect you. I swear."

Tony smiled softly at Peter. "I know you will."

* * *

"Mr. Stark?" Peter's lips trembled as he tried to speak and his breathing became shallow at the sight of his dying mentor. He knelt down before him, wondering if he was even conscious; if he could even hear him. "Hey...Mr. Stark. Can you hear me?" Was Tony actually looking at him, or was he just completely dazed? Peter didn't know. Maybe he was too far gone to even recognize him.

"It's Peter." The boy tried to breathe, but his body shook, so he couldn't even get in a full breath. He knew he couldn't go on without any more breath in his lungs, so Peter paused and panted heavily, finally able to gather some air.

The sight of his mentor broke him. Tears pooled in his eyes as hundreds of thoughts and questions whirled around inside his head. Did Mr. Stark even know what happened? Was he aware of anything at all? Did he understand what his sacrifice did? Did he know that he had just saved them all?

"We won. Mr. Stark." He continued to gasp for air, and it didn't help that a lump was rising in his throat. "We won, Mr. Stark."

Was it getting through to him? Was he hearing Peter? Did he need to further explain to his mentor what went down?

"We won. You did it, Sir. You did it."

Peter stared at Tony's face, but got nothing from it. He was fading now, and there was nothing Peter could do to stop that. He swore to Tony that he'd protect him. That he wouldn't let him die. That he'd save him. He had broken his promise. He had failed.

The young hero choked on a sob. He rested his hand on Tony's shoulder, hoping that maybe his touch would bring him back to consciousness. But still, he got nothing.

"I'm sorry...Tony…" he finally broke down, realizing that Tony was gone. And he couldn't bring him back.

He felt a hand placed on his shoulder. Was it Rhodey? Maybe Captain America. He felt the hand help him to stand to his feet and he saw that it was Pepper. She squeezed his shoulder tightly, and Peter thought of the pain she must be going through.

Peter placed a hand over his mouth and sobbed silently into it. He watched Pepper kneel down before her husband and murmur some soft words to him. She was able to get a reaction from him, and Peter felt his heart break as he heard Tony whisper "Hey, Pep," in a hoarse voice. He couldn't hear the rest of the words Pepper spoke. But he saw Tony smile. He didn't know how that made him feel. Happier? Or did he feel even worse?

"You can rest now."

Peter heard Pepper speak those words and watched as the life left Tony's eyes. Pepper pressed a kiss again her husband's cheek and broke down crying. Peter began sobbing uncontrollably. He could hardly breath at this point. The last time he cried this hard, Tony was there to hold him. But now Tony was gone. Forever. And Peter was broken.

* * *

The next couple of days, Peter was silent. He hardly spoke a word, not even to May. But she understood and she gave him his space. The only time she spoke to him was to inform him that dinner was ready—not that he ate anyways. He had completely lost his appetite, and anything he tried to eat he threw right back up.

Peter blamed himself for Tony's death. Even though Tony knew he had to sacrifice himself to save the universe, Peter had promised to protect him. _He _should have been the one to snap the gauntlet. Tony should have been the one to survive. Tony Stark was more important than him. He was one of the most important men in the world. People counted on him. Peter…he was just a high school student who had very few people in his life. He didn't matter. Those people could move on without him in their lives. But the world _needed _Tony Stark.

Tony's funeral was scheduled a week later after the battle. Peter wasn't sure if he even wanted to go, but he liked to think that Tony would want him there. And Pepper would want him there, too. So he put on his suit (the same one he wore to his homecoming dance) and then he and May drove up to the cabin in the woods where Pepper and Tony had previously been living.

The ceremony was harder to get through than Peter anticipated. He tried to get through Tony's holographic message without crying, but he failed. He happened to be standing beside Rhodey, which he was grateful for because the man placed an arm around Peter's shoulder and pulled him in close. It made him feel a little better, and the rest of the message was bearable.

At the end of the message, he saw Tony lean down with a sweet smile on his face as he said, "I love you 3000." And then the holograph clicked off. Peter was confused as to who Tony said that to, and then he finally saw her. There was a little girl sitting beside Pepper. Could that be...could that be Tony's and Pepper's daughter? Peter was a little shocked and, surprisingly, exhilarated at the thought.

And then Peter remembered that dream Tony had told Peter about so long ago. _"I left her there all alone..I don't want her to feel the pain of loneliness…" _Peter felt his heart drop. Not only did he fail to save Mr. Stark, but now this little girl would be fatherless and...left alone.

For the remainder of the funeral, Peter had a heavy heart. But it was for a different reason now. He felt so sad for this little girl who would have to grow up without a father. He knew how that felt. He knew how it felt to lose all the father figures in his life…including Tony.

After the funeral, Peter stood on the dock all alone. Everyone else had left to go inside, which left Peter to be by himself with his thoughts. He stood, staring at the flower wreath float away further and further until it was out of sight. After a few more minutes, he sighed and turned around to head back inside with everyone else, but then he stopped in his tracks when he saw Pepper and the little girl approach him.

"Hey, Peter," Pepper spoke so softly. Peter had guessed she'd been crying a lot. She further approached him and opened up her arms. Peter walked into them and hugged her tightly. The little girl stood by Pepper's side and clung to her leg. Peter stepped back from the hug and smiled down at her.

"Hey! And who are you?" He asked. He was surprised at how chipper his voice sounded, especially after hardly talking for the past few days.

Pepper picked her up and placed her on her hip. "This is Morgan, our daughter."

Peter noticed how she had Tony's eyes, and he couldn't tell if that was a blessing or a curse.

"Morgan, this is Peter."

The little girl's chocolate eyes grew wide as she let out a little gasp. "Do you mean Petey?"

"Huh?" Peter was confused and waited for an explanation.

"Daddy used to always tell me stories about you at bedtime. He said you were a superhero. The bravest superhero he knew!"

Peter felt a lump rise in his throat. His eyes stung with tears. He didn't expect any of this, and he was choked up that Mr. Stark cared about him so much that he told Morgan about him.

"Yeah?" Peter sniffed. "What else did he tell you?"

"Well…" Morgan put on an adorable thinking face which caused Peter to chuckle. "He said you were the Spider hero. He always told me to never be scared of spiders or hurt them because they were your friends, and hurting your friends would hurt your feelings. Is that true?"

Peter laughed. "Yeah, that's definitely true."

"My daddy also said you were smart. Maybe even smarter than him, because you know. My daddy is soooooo smart!"

Peter nodded. "He is. Your daddy is the smartest person I know."

Peter noticed Pepper smiling at their conversation. Peter wondered if that was one of the first times she smiled since Tony's death, but he figured not. Because who could possibly frown with this little angel around?

"My daddy also said he loved you a lot. And he missed you so much, too," Morgan spoke quietly.

"Yeah?" Peter smiled as a tear fell from his eye. He couldn't tell if this info was making things better or worse, but regardless, he let Morgan continue.

"I asked him when you'd come home. He said he didn't know," Morgan pouted. "But...now you're here! And I finally got to meet the cool spider hero."

Peter chuckled once more. "Well, I'm glad I got to meet you too."

"Maybe tomorrow you can come over and show me some of your hero tricks!" Her smile was so bright that Peter was about to immediately promise he would, but then Pepper stepped in.

"Not tomorrow, Morgan. I bet Peter is busy tomorrow and we're also busy tomorrow."

Morgan began to pout and cry big crocodile tears, and the sight tugged at Peter's heart.

"But maybe sometime later this week I can come! I can show you how I swing from trees with my webs and show you my cool Spider-Man suit, huh?"

Morgan's eyes lit up and she turned to Pepper. "Can he please come later, Mommy?" Pepper glanced at the two kids who were practically giving her puppy eyes. She smiled and shook her head, giving into their wishes. "Okay, Peter can come over later this week."

"Yay! And we can have a sleepover!"

"We'll have to see about that one, missy." Pepper booped Morgan on the nose. Then she turned to Peter. "We just came out here to check on you, and now we're gonna head back inside. You gonna come join us?"

"I'll be there in a minute. I just need a few more minutes," Peter replied.

"Okay. Just don't stay out too long. It's getting cold." She pulled Peter back into a hug and kissed his forehead.

"Yes, ma'am."

When Pepper and Morgan retrieved back to the house, Peter turned back towards the lake. He stood towards the edge of the dock with his hands resting in his pockets. The sun was setting now, turning the sky into various colors of yellow, red, and blue. _Much like Tony's iron man suit colors, _Peter thought.

He missed him so much. He didn't know if he would be able to express that enough. But he also knew that Tony would want him to take care of himself and move on. Peter didn't know how he could possibly do that, but maybe he would swallow his pride and reach out for help. Talking to Rhodey might help. He was Tony's best friend and definitely felt the same amount of pain he did—if not, maybe even more. Pepper would maybe, _hopefully, _give him access to Tony's lab...eventually. Dr. Banner could help him with experimenting on his web fluids—like Tony used to do—since he was a doctor and knew a shit ton about science and chemistry. Maybe Steve Rogers would help his memory and legacy live on by telling him stories of their times as the avengers.

_If Tony were alive, then _he _could be the one to tell me those stories, _Peter thought. _If I had stuck to my promise…_

"_Kid, I don't want you to risk your life to save mine."_

Peter's racing thoughts stopped as he looked back on that night and what Tony told him. If Peter had been the one to bear the gauntlet and snap his fingers, he would have died and risked his own life which was exactly what Tony didn't want to happen.

"_And if you died, I feel like that's on me."_

Peter thought back to when he was dusted away from the snap—which to him felt like only a week ago. But in reality, it had been 5 years. He couldn't even begin to imagine how guilty and hurt Tony must have felt during the next 5 years. And for the avengers to bring Peter (and all the blipped) back again just for Peter to sacrifice his life again would be unfair and even more heartbreaking to Tony. And May. And Ned. And MJ.

Peter understood why things played out the way they did. But it still didn't make him feel any less pained or guilty for breaking his promise.

"I promised to protect you, Mr. Stark," Peter murmured. "I promised to stay by your side and keep you safe. But I strayed away and you...you sacrificed yourself. And I guess I would have never been able to save you from that, anyways. And I can't get mad at you because you knew what you had to do. You knew you had to die saving the universe. I was supposed to save you, but instead you saved _me. _And Pepper. And...Morgan."

Peter shook his head, glancing down at his feet. "You saved Morgan, and saving her meant you dying. Just like in your dream, you know? You were convinced your dream meant nothing, but I guess the universe proved you wrong, huh?" Peter let out a hollow laugh, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"I'm sorry I failed at protecting you. I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm so sorry I broke my promise." Peter clenched his fists. "But I swear, I will protect Morgan with my life. I promise you, she won't ever be alone. Because I'll be here. Pepper will be here. Happy will be here. And so will Rhodey. She won't ever be lonely, because her big brother is going to visit her every Thursday—well, as long as Pepper is okay with that day.

"I'll make sure she'll make new friends at school, and I'll teach her how to avoid and ignore bullies. When she gets older, we'll spend time in the lab together—like you and I used to—because there is no doubt she'll be a genius like you."

Peter smiled as the bittersweet tears fell freely to the ground. "I'll tell Morgan stories about you, like how you told her stories about me. I'll tell her about the time you saved me when I was just a little kid and how you became my idol from that moment on. I'll tell her how you saved all of New York from Loki and this Aliens. I'll tell her how you completely caught me off guard by showing up in my apartment and you asked me to help you take down _the _Captain America. I'll tell her stories about our Thursdays in the Lab. And about the music you listened to and your favorite bands!

"I'll tell her tell her about our little trip to space—maybe leave out the part about me dusting away. And maybe—one day when she's older—I'll finally tell her about how you sacrificed yourself to save the entire universe; to save _her. _She might not like that story, but I'm sure she will understand why that story is so significant."

Peter let out a sigh and rocked back and forth on his heels while he wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

"You won't ever have to worry about Morgan being lonely. Because believe me, she'll be spending so much time with us, she'll get sick of us and _want _to be alone." Peter snorted at his own words. And then he looked up at the darkening sky. "I know I promised to keep you safe, and that fell through. But I swear to you, I will watch over Morgan. I will keep her safe from harm's way. I will make sure she never feels like she's alone. And…I know I broke my last promise, but this is a promise that I will never ever break. I will always be here to protect her. I swear."

Right then, a slight breeze picked up and brushed past Peter's face. And maybe he was just down right delusional at this point, but Peter could have sworn that that was Tony whispering to him, "I know you will."

**A/N: I'm sorry for all the angst! When I wrote Tony's death scene, I had to rewatch it so I could hear what Peter was saying, so when I was writing it in Peter's POV, I legitimately started crying because it was so sad :(**

**Anyways, it'd be great if you'd leave me a review! And maybe follow me because I have more Avengers content that I'm planning on uploading soon! (I'm planning on typing a little series about Morgan and Peter—about when Morgan is a teen—and it'll kinda follow up after this fan fic, so follow me to see the updates!)**

**Have a great rest of your day/night! **


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